A MOTHER who seriously injured her victim during a glassing attack in a village pub has been jailed for three years.

Single-parent Kerry Anne O’Brien had been convicted after trial of wounding Karl Stretton with intent at the Cross Keys in Burbage on May 16 last year following VE Day celebrations.

O’Brien, of Maple Close, Burbage, pleaded not guilty but was last month convicted by a 10-2 majority verdict after the jury deliberated for almost 5½ hours.

When the Leicester Crown Court trial opened on her 37th birthday, the jury heard that O’Brien and Mr Stretton were talking in the bar when she joined John “Jay” Pirie - Mr Stretton’s friend - for a chat.

O’Brien and Mr Stretton, who did not know each other, traded insults. She called him “fat” and he said she was a “slapper”.

Mr Stretton admitted he stupidly, “in a moment of madness”, threw a quarter of a pint of beer over O’Brien in response to the name calling.

He said: “She came forwards. I felt something wet on my face and heard the smash of a glass. I had no vision in my left eye and couldn’t see out of my right because of the blood. I felt pain and was in a panic because I couldn’t see.”

The attack left the victim with blurred vision and he now uses a special contact lense.

The 6ft 2ins railway worker said: “Even though I’m a big man, I was scared. I still get flashbacks.”

CCTV footage played in court during the trial showed O’Brien, who has a 10-year-old son, continuing to lash out at her victim, even though the glass had broken.

Prosecutor Richard Thatcher said during interview O’Brien didn’t accept the video evidence. He added: “It was a dreadful loss of temper. It was a vicious attack, violent and cowardly.”

O’Brien, a PA and accounts assistant, said in evidence she was “feeling tipsy” when she arrived at the Cross Keys. She was in the back bar and said she heard insults about the way she was dressed.

She admitted calling Mr Stretton “fat” and added: “The way he was talking to me was so aggressive and nasty. He threw a drink in my face. I threw my drink back at him.

“I felt insulted and quite scared when he threw a drink in my face.”

She said she acted in self-defence and did not realise she had a wine glass in her hand at the time.

Sentencing O’Brien last Friday, (October 28) Judge Robert Brown told her: “Mr Stretton’s conduct in throwing the contents of his beer glass on to your front and face was nothing short of disgraceful, but it can’t possibly justify your response.

“You used a glass to his face.”

The judge said he had taken into account the fact that O’Brien’s son faced the upheaval of having to be cared for by his father - who lived in a different area - while she served her sentence.

Judge Brown also took account of O’Brien’s previous good character and her “extremely good” references.

Barrister Gary Short, who defended O’Brien, argued during the trial that she acted in self-defence.